Search results for ""Canongate Books""

In childhood there is no distinction between, boy, bird, mammal or fish. A Twelvemonth and a Day is about change and growth, the fluctuating patterns in the worklife of a fishing and farming community throughout the whole cycle of a year, and about the year itself, the life of nature. It tells of how that symbolic year-and-a-day can be destroyed by forces we cannot seem to control - ignorance and greed, profit and loss, the wider forces of ploitics that damage communities and individuals. It is both a lament for a past time and acelebration of its vanished values.

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SHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR NATURE WRITING 2023LONGLISTED FOR THE HIGHLAND BOOK PRIZE 2022Reflecting on family, identity and nature, belonging is a personal memoir about what it is to have and make a home. It is a love letter to nature, especially the northern landscapes of Scotland and the Scots pinewoods of Abernethy.Beautifully written and featuring Amanda Thomson's artwork and photography throughout, it explores how place, language and family shape us and make us who we are. It is a book about how we are held in thrall to elements of our past. It speaks to the importance of attention and reflection, and will encourage us all to look and observe and ask questions of ourselves.

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THE EPIC ADVENTURE OF A TEENY-TINY HEROMiika just wants to belong. Living with elves and trolls and pixies can make a mouse feel like the odd one out. When he makes friends with a fellow mouse, Miika thinks he can relax. But really, his quest is just beginning . . .

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THERE'S NO PLANET LIKE HOMEAfter an 'incident' one wet Friday night where he was found walking naked through the streets of Cambridge, Professor Andrew Martin is not feeling quite himself. Food sickens him. Clothes confound him. Even his loving wife and teenage son are repulsive to him. He feels lost amongst an alien species and hates everyone on the planet. Everyone, that is, except Newton, (and he's a dog).Who is he really? And what could make someone change their mind about the human race?

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The day a stained brown envelope arrives from Taduno's homeland, he knows that the time has come to return from exile. Back in Nigeria, Taduno discovers that his community no longer recognises him, his girlfriend Lela has disappeared, taken away by government agents, and all traces of his old life have been erased. All that is left of him are his own memories. As Taduno begins to unravel the mystery of his lost life he must also face a difficult decision: betray his love, or betray his nation.

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In 1985 police bombed a West Philadelphia row house. Eleven people died and a fire started that destroyed sixty other houses. John Edgar Wideman brings these events and their repercussions to shocking life in this seminal novel.At the heart of Philadelphia Fire is Cudjoe, a writer and exile who returns to his old neighbourhood and who becomes obsessed with the search for a lone survivor of the event, a young boy seen running from the flames.One of Wideman's most ambitious and celebrated works, Philadelphia Fire is about race, life and survival in urban America.

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'Jecks keeps the suspense at a steady boil as his well-rounded characters fight for a corner in tumultuous London' Publishers Weekly'I look forward to seeing what mishap next awaits the unlikely hero of Jack Blackjack' Historical Novel SocietyDANGER LIES IN WAIT IN TUDOR LONDON . . .London, 1554. Light-fingered Jack Blackjack wakes in a tavern's yard with a sore head, his knife smeared with blood and a dead stranger lying beside him. Jack may have robbed the man but he's certain that he didn't kill him.Unfortunately, the man's purse contains something much more valuable than money and, as the prime suspect for the murder, everyone is on Jack's tail. He needs to get out of the city, and fast, but a rebel army is marching on London: the bridge is blocked and every gate manned. Trapped in the city, Jack must avoid being caught long enough to find the real murderer.

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What does it mean to be an explorer in the twenty-first century? Explorer is the story of what first led Benedict Allen to head for the farthest reaches of our planet - at a time when there were still valleys and ranges known only to the remote communities who inhabited them. It is also the story of why, thirty years later, he is still exploring. It's the story of a journey back to a clouded mountain in New Guinea to find a man called Korsai who had once been a friend, and to fulfil a promise made as young men. It is also a story of what it is to be 'lost' and 'found'. Honest, sensitive and packed with insight, in Explorer Allen considers the lessons he has learnt from his numerous expeditions - most importantly, from the communities he has encountered and that he has spent so much of his life immersed in. 'To me personally, exploration isn't about planting flags, conquering Nature, or going somewhere in order to make a mark - it's about the opposite. It's about opening yourself up, allowing yourself to be vulnerable, and letting the place and people make their mark on you.'

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THE TIMES CRIME BOOK OF THE YEARSHORTLISTED FOR THE McILVANNEY PRIZE'Superb' The Times Crime Book of the Month'A hardboiled gem' Guardian'I doubt I'll read a better book this year' Val McDermidAuctioneer Rilke has been trying to stay out of trouble, keeping his life more or less respectable. Business has been slow at Bowery Auctions, so when an old friend, Jojo, gives Rilke a tip-off for a house clearance, life seems to be looking up. The next day Jojo washes up dead.Jojo liked Grindr hook-ups and recreational drugs - is that the reason the police won't investigate? And if Rilke doesn't find out what happened to Jojo, who will?

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'Where have all my friends gone?'When Max Dickins decided to propose to his girlfriend, he realised there was no one he could call on to be his best man.He quickly learned that he wasn't the only man struggling with friendships. For decades, countless studies from across the world have confirmed that men have fewer close friends than women - and the problem gets worse the older men get. But what goes wrong? And what can men do about it? Dickins is going to find out.Join Max on his funny and charmingly candid search as he takes a defibrillator to his social life. As he ultimately discovers that if he wants a Best Man, then he needs to be a better man.

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A fresh case lays bare old bones for DI Watt's teamWhen a young woman's body is discovered on a popular jogging trail in Birmingham, Detective Inspector Bernard Watts and his team are plunged into a disturbing murder investigation. Not only has the woman been violently stabbed - her head is missing. When a close examination of the crime scene results in a shocking discovery linking the present murder to a past crime, criminologist Will Traynor is brought in to assist the police. Aware of Traynor's troubled past, Watts is sceptical that Will can contribute anything useful to the investigation. He's about to be proved very wrong . . .

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THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERA TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR'Fantastic' Lee Child'Absolutely brilliant' Mick HerronIf the truth's in the shadows, get out of the light . . . Lawyer Bobby Carter did a lot of work for the wrong type of people. Now he's dead and it was no accident. Besides a distraught family and a heap of powerful friends, Carter's left behind his share of enemies. So, who dealt the fatal blow?DC Jack Laidlaw's reputation precedes him. He's not a team player, but he's got a sixth sense for what's happening on the streets. His boss chalks the violence up to the usual rivalries, but is it that simple? As two Glasgow gangs go to war, Laidlaw needs to find out who got Carter before the whole city explodes.William McIlvanney's Laidlaw books changed the face of crime fiction. When he died in 2015, he left half a handwritten manuscript of Laidlaw's first case. Now, Ian Rankin is back to finish what McIlvanney started. In The Dark Remains, these two iconic authors bring to life the criminal world of 1970s Glasgow, and Laidlaw's relentless quest for truth.

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A SUNDAY TIMES BEST HISTORICAL FICTION BOOK OF THE YEARA BBC TWO BETWEEN THE COVERS BOOK CLUB PICK1628. Embarking on a journey in search of her father, a young girl called Mayken boards the Batavia, the most impressive sea vessel of the age. During the long voyage, this curious and resourceful child must find her place in the ship's busy world, and she soon uncovers shadowy secrets above and below deck. As tensions spiral, the fate of the ship and all on board becomes increasingly uncertain.1989. Gil, a boy mourning the death of his mother, is placed in the care of his irritable and reclusive grandfather. Their home is a shack on a tiny fishing island off the Australian coast, notable only for its reefs and wrecked boats. This is no place for a child struggling with a dark past and Gil's actions soon get him noticed by the wrong people.The Night Ship is an enthralling tale of human brutality, providence and friendship, and of two children, hundreds of years apart, whose fates are inextricably bound together.

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Ailsa and Humphrey met as children by a grey, northern sea in post-war Britain. She, freckled and furious; he, quietly studious; both fascinated by the other. Years later, their lives collide as adults and burst into an intense yet brief love affair. Now, after thirty years apart and at the close of the 20th century, their lives are converging once again as they hurtle towards each other by plane and train - their motivations, regrets and decisions laid bare.With the gloriously astute eye that Margaret Drabble is celebrated for, The Sea Lady is an account of first and last love; of the lapping of time at our ankles, gradually eroding and shaping our lives.

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A salesman for The Company searches hazily for his wife, grasping at memories just out of reach. One of Spain's most successful authors has produced a dizzying picaresque novel of drug-fuelled nights and wild sexual encounters: dealing with issues as diverse as loss, chemical dependency and the power of the multi-national conglomerates.

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Martin Strong delves into the world of film in this celebration of popular music in the movies.

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Homicide detective Daniel Turner revisits an 18-year-old unsolved case in the third of this intriguing and atmospheric crime noir series.We had set out from Atlanta to kill my mother and her husband. A slow kill.Oren has returned to the family home he last saw when he was eight years old. Eighteen years later, he is bent on an elaborate scheme of revenge.Homicide detective Daniel Turner was never able to forget the unsolved case, the disappearance of Amon Jakobsen all those years ago. Convinced the man was murdered, he was never able to prove it. Now he has returned to the isolated house on Black Hammock Island following reports of a disturbance. Is this his chance to find out what really happened to Amon eighteen years before? And will he be in time to prevent history repeating itself?

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Maggie Miller's attempt to run from her troubles leads her to Table Rock, Arizona, her own beignet café . . . and disaster.Welcome to Table Rock, Arizona, the place where folks who aren't too keen on the mainstream' move to. Maggie Miller has come here to forget about her dead husband. OK, so he isn't really dead. That's just what she tells everybody. Recently divorced, Maggie flees Phoenix and the sight of her husband and his new wife and moves to Table Rock to be closer to her own family. She's also planning on opening her own beignet and coffee business, Maggie's Beignet Café.But that dead guy in her storeroom might just put a kink in her plans. Unless she can figure out who killed him, and why, she might never open for business . . .

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When a fellow officer is shot dead in broad daylight, in his own squad car, homicide detective Quentin Archer uncovers some surprising facts about the dead man's past. Is this a random cop killing, as he'd first supposed - or part of a carefully-orchestrated plan of revenge?

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Three sudden deaths have occurred in the sleepy village of Durley Dean. Are they tragic accidents? Tom Dod's Aunt Hetty isn't so sure. All three took a stand against the new vicar of St Agnes Church and his controversial changes. But is there really a killer among the parishioners? Fran and Tom are soon plunged into a new mystery.

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Maya sees two women set themselves ablaze. She's even more shocked to recognize one of them: Sylvie Burton, a scientist, who is the adopted sister of Maya's best friend. An onlooker says that the two women are martyrs, protesting the Chinese occupation of Tibet. Yet, with so much to live for, why would Sylvie end her life in this horrific way?

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Crime blogger and radio host Kit Doyle goes undercover and into danger - in the second of this intriguing crime series.17-year-old Jessica is missing. There are no clues as to why she disappeared apart from the note she left behind: I love you. Goodbye forever. It turns out that Jessica is not the first teenager to have gone missing, nor the first to have left exactly the same note.With a personal family connection to the missing girl, crime blogger and radio host Kit Doyle is determined to find out what happened to her. To do so, she must go undercover as a teenage runaway herself. Out on the streets, Kit is about to enter a violent, unpredictable world where life is held cheap and into the clutches of a dangerous psychopath

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Second in the exciting new World War II mystery series featuring intrepid research chemist-sleuth Libby Clark. 30th May 1944. In the middle of the night, Libby Clark is roused from sleep by a colleague in distress. Marvin's cousin Frannie has been charged with treason, and he hopes that Libby, with her clear-headed scientific mind, can find a way to help prove her innocence. Libby, a chemist at a secret World War II facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, agrees to help her friend and pursue the truth. Libby's investigations soon uncover the immoral Dr Hansrote, who has tricked Frannie into her treachery. But, the evil at Oak Ridge seems to run deeper and in Libby's determination to uncover the truth, she not only finds herself up against the authorities, but also caught in the crosshairs of a deadly cabal of indoctrinated spies, greedy opportunists and unscrupulous collaborators. Can Libby survive the confluence of challenges? Or will one of them

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